Meadows Eases To Win In Knockhill Opener

Michael Meadows claimed a comfortable victory in round 13 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill with a lights to flag victory.

The Samsung Smart Motorsport driver made a good getaway off the line to lead the pack into the first corner, the Seat Curve.

Fellow front row starter Rory Butcher maintained second position just holding off the fast starting Dean Stoneman who was forced to slot into third.

On the second lap, there was drama for Victor Jiminez as a rear puncture caused him to spin into the gravel at the chicane forcing his retirement from the race. This caused the safety car to be deployed.

While behind the safety car, Stoneman suddenly slowed from third also with a puncture and limped back to the pits to replace the tyre dropping a lap down in the process. This promoted Team Parker Racing’s Dan Lloyd to third.

Meadows judged the restart perfectly to pull immediately clear of Butcher and controlled the gap for the remainder of the race, clinching his sixth victory of the season by four seconds.

He said: “That’s perfect: it could not have gone any better. The safety car was good for me as it interrupted Rory’s momentum a bit more than mine. Before the safety car I was getting pressure from him. I even got a decent start this time.”

Butcher said: “I’m happy to be on the podium, but Michael had a huge gap. I didn’t seem to have the grip I had in qualifying. Stoneman gave me a bit of pressure into turn one from the start. That’s good points on my home track.”

Lloyd completed the podium in third ahead of Juta Racing’s Jonas Gelzinis who was fourth.

Dan De Zille was fifth overall and consequently claimed victory in Pro-Am1 after battling with Celtic Speed’s George Brewster for much of the race until a flat spotted tyre caused the Scot to drop back in the closing stages.

De Zille said: “That was hard work! George had the legs on me on the brakes. But then I saw James Birch coming up on us and that helped keep George occupied. Later on I managed to keep James behind. I wasn’t expecting that and I’ve pulled back a few points.”

James Birch was sixth ahead of Brewster with Stoneman the last finisher in eighth.